Are the Knicks even better than the Pistons?

[The4thHorseman]

I like Brunson but he’s a lil overrated he just a lil upgrade over burks Toppin needs a bigger role I think he can have a breakout year for them

[NZB2323]

I can’t believe the Knicks are doing so well after losing depth in Taj Gibson.

[Clyde Frazier]

The Knicks are having a very good season, but I don't get the narrative that they are primed for a deep playoff run.

The Knicks have been near perfect against teams with losing records but pretty bad against teams at .500 or better.

Against teams .500 or better they have won 18 of 44 games. Against teams currently in the top six seeds in the East they have won 5 of 18 games. They have losing records against Boston, Milwaukee, Orlando and Indiana.

In spite of their recent success, their season long struggles against winning teams would point to a disappointing post season with their ceiling being a first round series win.

I mean you're conveniently ignoring all the injuries they have yet they're 15 games over 500 and 4th in the east. Remains to be seen if they'll have OG/randle/robinson back for the playoffs or what condition they'll be in. That said, they're objectively better than last season and played a very competitive 2nd round series against the heat. The next step is the conference finals and they absolutely have a reasonable chance of making it.

[old skool]

The Knicks are having a very good season, but I don't get the narrative that they are primed for a deep playoff run.

The Knicks have been near perfect against teams with losing records but pretty bad against teams at .500 or better.

Against teams .500 or better they have won 18 of 44 games. Against teams currently in the top six seeds in the East they have won 5 of 18 games. They have losing records against Boston, Milwaukee, Orlando and Indiana.

In spite of their recent success, their season long struggles against winning teams would point to a disappointing post season with their ceiling being a first round series win.

I mean you're conveniently ignoring all the injuries they have yet they're 15 games over 500 and 4th in the east. Remains to be seen if they'll have OG/randle/robinson back for the playoffs or what condition they'll be in. That said, they're objectively better than last season and played a very competitive 2nd round series against the heat. The next step is the conference finals and they absolutely have a reasonable chance of making it.

The Knicks are having a very good season, but most of their success has been against teams under .500, none of whom they will meet in the playoffs.

I agree that their prospects will look different if they get fully healthy, which may or may not happen. And even then, they would not be the team we have seen so far this season. In any event, the playoff Knicks will likely look considerably different from the team that lost to the Heat in last year's post season. They surely should have hopes of playoff success, but for that to happen, they will need to be better than 5 of 18 against upper tier teams that they will most likely face in the second round. I think the Knicks will have a tough time in the playoffs, which is fine for a gritty team that plays hard and never gives up.

Several teams are looking to take a "next step". Orlando looks for their first playoff win in years. Indiana wants to replicate their in season tournament success. Miami would like another shot in the Finals. Boston wants to get over the hump. They won't all be successful. The Knicks are in the mix, but not necessarily positioned better than the other top teams in the East for a deep playoff run.

[Clyde Frazier]

The Knicks are having a very good season, but I don't get the narrative that they are primed for a deep playoff run.

The Knicks have been near perfect against teams with losing records but pretty bad against teams at .500 or better.

Against teams .500 or better they have won 18 of 44 games. Against teams currently in the top six seeds in the East they have won 5 of 18 games. They have losing records against Boston, Milwaukee, Orlando and Indiana.

In spite of their recent success, their season long struggles against winning teams would point to a disappointing post season with their ceiling being a first round series win.

I mean you're conveniently ignoring all the injuries they have yet they're 15 games over 500 and 4th in the east. Remains to be seen if they'll have OG/randle/robinson back for the playoffs or what condition they'll be in. That said, they're objectively better than last season and played a very competitive 2nd round series against the heat. The next step is the conference finals and they absolutely have a reasonable chance of making it.

The Knicks are having a very good season, but most of their success has been against teams under .500, none of whom they will meet in the playoffs.

I agree that their prospects will look different if they get fully healthy, which may or may not happen. And even then, they would not be the team we have seen so far this season. In any event, the playoff Knicks will likely look considerably different from the team that lost to the Heat in last year's post season. They surely should have hopes of playoff success, but for that to happen, they will need to be better than 5 of 18 against upper tier teams that they will most likely face in the second round. I think the Knicks will have a tough time in the playoffs, which is fine for a gritty team that plays hard and never gives up.

Several teams are looking to take a "next step". Orlando looks for their first playoff win in years. Indiana wants to replicate their in season tournament success. Miami would like another shot in the Finals. Boston wants to get over the hump. They won't all be successful. The Knicks are in the mix, but not necessarily positioned better than the other top teams in the East for a deep playoff run.

You're harping on their record against teams over 500, yet with OG in the lineup they're 15-2 with wins over the wolves, Sixers (with Embiid), nuggets, heat and kings. They can compete with anyone and are the epitome of greater than the sum of their parts. So yes health will be a determining factor as I said, but their roster is good enough for a deep playoff run. And brunson is just that good, already proving it in the playoffs.

[ShootersShoot]

I mean you're conveniently ignoring all the injuries they have yet they're 15 games over 500 and 4th in the east. Remains to be seen if they'll have OG/randle/robinson back for the playoffs or what condition they'll be in. That said, they're objectively better than last season and played a very competitive 2nd round series against the heat. The next step is the conference finals and they absolutely have a reasonable chance of making it.

The Knicks are having a very good season, but most of their success has been against teams under .500, none of whom they will meet in the playoffs.

I agree that their prospects will look different if they get fully healthy, which may or may not happen. And even then, they would not be the team we have seen so far this season. In any event, the playoff Knicks will likely look considerably different from the team that lost to the Heat in last year's post season. They surely should have hopes of playoff success, but for that to happen, they will need to be better than 5 of 18 against upper tier teams that they will most likely face in the second round. I think the Knicks will have a tough time in the playoffs, which is fine for a gritty team that plays hard and never gives up.

Several teams are looking to take a "next step". Orlando looks for their first playoff win in years. Indiana wants to replicate their in season tournament success. Miami would like another shot in the Finals. Boston wants to get over the hump. They won't all be successful. The Knicks are in the mix, but not necessarily positioned better than the other top teams in the East for a deep playoff run.

You're harping on their record against teams over 500, yet with OG in the lineup they're 15-2 with wins over the wolves, Sixers (with Embiid), nuggets, heat and kings. They can compete with anyone and are the epitome of greater than the sum of their parts. So yes health will be a determining factor as I said, but their roster is good enough for a deep playoff run. And brunson is just that good, already proving it in the playoffs.

Not to mention that Randle and OG missed a ton of games. That pretty much evens out the playing field against weaker teams, no? For a team to be basically missing 2-3 starters every game and still beating teams no matter how bad they are is still not easy to do.

[robillionaire]

No, but that is because the Pistons are about to become one of the top teams in the league.

Amazing

If you load up tankathon, they’re at the top

[Yoshun]

This thread was initially made in July 2022.

Let's be honest, even in this past off-season, how many people had the Knicks as this good or the Pistons as this bad?

[jkvonny]

This thread was initially made in July 2022.

Let's be honest, even in this past off-season, how many people had the Knicks as this good or the Pistons as this bad?

True.

But, this past offseason I was one of the few many that had the Knicks as a playoff team. and the Pistons as a rebuilding team, no playoffs. This bad tho? Not really, but not surprising lol.

[jazzfan1971]

Brunson is far better than we thought.

[MrBigShot]

I did think the knicks were better when I posted in this thread, but in fairness nobody thought Brunson was gonna be THIS good. He is a baller

I mean some of us at the start of this thread definitely argued he could be a star and have a really transformative impact on this team because of how much he'd help Randle; especially by taking over in crunch time

But you're right that a lot of people doubted it and there's nothing wrong with be wrong, we all do it. All we can do is own it when we're wrong and learn from those mistakes.

I was a big fan of the signing and thought he would be borderline all star caliber. Now there's a case to be made he's all nba